Travel Ban

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The Joe Biden administration is considering whether to impose domestic travel restrictions, including on Florida, fearful that COVID-19 mutations are threatening to reverse hard-fought progress on the pandemic. Discussions in the administration over potential travel restrictions  focus on how to prevent the spread of variants that appear to be surging in a number of states, including Florida and California.

The U.K. variant, known as B.1.1.7, has recently surged in Florida, where over a third of all cases in the United States have been identified. “This is a war and we’re at battle with the virus. War is messy and unpredictable, and all options are on the table,” the White House official said.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said “It would be unconstitutional. It would be unwise and it would be unjust,” February 11, 2021 at a vaccination site in Port Charlotte, on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Florida leads the nation in the number of known cases of the B.1.1.7 strain of the coronavirus, the variant that emerged in the U.K. Researchers says the variant now accounts for up to 15% of the new cases statewide. Because it is more contagious, public health experts worry the emergence of the variant could accelerate spread of the disease. Florida had 202 deaths per day on January 11, 2021 and those numbers are slowly settling with a seven day average of 170 deaths a day on February 10, 2021. A Boeing 732 has 174 seats so the state is still experiencing the deaths of a commercial airplane crash every day.

 

 

Super Spreader Bowl

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The 55th Super Bowl is sure to be the cause of an increase in COVID-19 cases nation wide. The NFL tried to make the stands safe in Tampa, by limiting attendance to 22,000 fans, 7,500 of which were vaccinated health care workers. It seems a strange idea to honor health care workers while packing 22,000 fans into a stadium. Other seats had been sold for $100 and fans sent in photos which were made into cut outs to fill the empty seats.

In a video message before the Super Bowl, President Joe Biden called for a moment of silence for the 460,000 Americans who had died from COVID-19. Boos could be heard from fans in attendance. In the few televised views of the stands fans could be seen without masks or wearing them as chin straps. It became clear at game time that fans were seated too close together in the stadium defying any possible 6 feet of social distancing.

In Tampa, Mayor Jane Castor announced a temporary ordinance requiring that masks be worn outside in several popular gathering spots. The order states that violators could be fined $500 as a “last resort.” Another ordinance requires masks at any indoor location when social distancing is not possible. That would include many bars and restaurants but not private residences. It became clear that these ordinances were ignored and not enforced. Thousands of mask less fans flooded the streets of Ybor City in Tampa after the game. This scene was played out all across the country in bars and pubs.

Case numbers are finally dropping all across the country but new variants are arriving which make the virus much more efficient at infecting more people. Health officials fear the game could seed new cases at exactly the wrong time. Mask It Or Casket said on Twitter, “There are too many people in this stadium. Go crawl in a hole and disappear, DeSantis.” Florida Governor Ron DeathSantis who was at the game did not wear a mask. Rep. Ron Wright (R of TX)  died of COVID-19 on Super Spreader Sunday.

The CDC urged fans not to hold Super Bowl parties this year. They advised fans to have outdoor viewing party using a projector screen and of course wear a mask with two or more layers, avoid direct contact like handshakes or hugs, bring in fresh air through windows and doors, and encourage guests to bring their own food and drinks. Even if fan at Super Bowl parties started with good intentions they are sure to have let their guard down after taking a drink any time an announcer said, “Sukup.” Though the CDC advised watching the game at home, there were many local bars and pubs which held Super Spreader Bowl Parties.

Some rabid  fans dress eerily similar to the QAnon Shaman who was one of the many insurrectionists arrested after the attack on democracy.  The most impotent lesson from this game is that the team with the most points won the game. This is a simple concept most former presidential supporters don’t get.

House Delivers Articles of Impeachment to Senate

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On Monday, January 25, 2021 House impeachment managers walked across the Capitol and delivered to the Senate the charge against Donald J. Trump, the first president in history to be impeached twice. The charge is incitement of insurrection. They were led into the Senate chamber by the lead impeachment manager, Rep. Jamie Raskin of (D-MD), who read the article of impeachment. Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D-VT), the president pro tempore of the Senate, is expected to preside over the impeachment trial. The Constitution says the chief justice presides when the person facing trial is the current president of the United States, but senators preside in other cases, one source said.

The trial is slated to begin the week of February 8, 2021. The expectation is, that it will take up much of February and wrap up by month’s end, if not sooner. Before the start of the trial the Senate hopes to confirm President Joe Biden‘s Cabinet and potentially handle the President’s Covid-19 relief package. Trump’s legal team and the House managers will have two weeks to exchange pre-trial briefs before arguments begin. Senators will be sworn in as jurors on Tuesday, January 26, 2021. 17 Republican Senators would have to vote to convict the former president in the Senate that now evenly split 50/50. 10 house republicans voted to impeach the president but getting 17 Senators to weigh the evidence in an impartial way seems a long shot.  Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), the only Republican who voted to convict Trump in the first impeachment trial, said, “I believe that what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. If not, what is?”

Joe Biden has proposed a 1.9 trillion dollar COVID Relief Plan. Sixteen bipartisan senators discussed the aid plan with Biden administration officials on Sunday, January 24, 2021 and while the lawmakers agreed on the need for vaccine distribution money, many questioned the overall price tag. It could take weeks for Congress to finish talks around a coronavirus relief deal and for Democrats to decide whether they should forge ahead with an aid bill without GOP support. The bill includes calls for funds to streamline vaccinations, $1,400 direct payments, a $400 weekly unemployment supplement, and state and local government support.

Florida Vaccine Tourism

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Vaccine tourism involves people visiting other states across the country in search of COVID-19 vaccines. “Frustrated by crashing appointment websites, shortages of COVID-19 shots and a patchwork of confusing eligibility rules, people with time and money are heading out of town in pursuit of a potentially lifesaving inoculation.”
Tourists have been visiting Florida, Hawaii, Colorado, New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to Bloomberg.

Vaccine is in short supply across the country. People who have set up appointments are finding their appointments canceled due to the vaccine supply running out. Stated simply there was no plan for this historically huge emergency distribution plan. The Joe Biden administration is hoping they can get the situation under control, but the previous administration kept them in the dark.

My sister in south west Florida worked hard to get her first vaccine shot. It involved dozens of calls and setbacks. when she was waiting for the shot in a line of cars she noticed the car in front of her had a New Jersey license plate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he doesn’t want out-of-state residents coming to Florida to get their COVID-19 vaccines, which are in limited supply, and is pushing a new restriction on the vaccine distribution. There have been multiple media reports about wealthy residents of other states or other countries flying to Florida to get COVID-19 vaccines. These included real estate developers, attorneys, Hollywood insiders and the mother of an Argentine television personality. There are now only two social classes in America, the vaccinated and the non-vaccinated.

A Florida Department of Health database indicates that 39,214 people who received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Florida were from out of state, representing 3.5% of the 1,122,405 people receiving a vaccine. Individuals with an out-of-state identification now will be required to provide proof of residency or semi-permanent residency to get a vaccination through the Department of Health in Brevard County. Examples include a utility bill, property tax receipt or lease agreement for Florida property.

January Surge

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January has been hard hit by the COVID-19 crisis. California has been hit hardest, on January 21, 2021 the state recorded 736 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, the highest since the start of the pandemic. Of nearly 36,000 cumulative COVID-19 deaths statewide, more than 10,000 have been reported since New Year’s Eve, including more than 4,500 in L.A. County. The state’s most populous county, which has tallied more than 14,600 deaths, accounts for roughly 41% of California’s cumulative COVID-19 deaths, despite being home to only a quarter of the state’s population.

Florida is also experiencing a Winter Surge. On January 10, 2021 the Florida Department of Health reported 108 more resident deaths linked to COVID-19 on Sunday along with 12,313 new positive cases.

The January 3, 2021 White House COVID-19 Task Force report categorized Florida in full pandemic status for all categories: test positivity and high levels of community transmission in nearly 90% of the counties. Weekly figures of closely monitored pandemic data continue to rise and trend closer in similarity to what was seen statewide during the summer spike, considered to be the height of the pandemic in Florida.

The former administration had literally no plan for distributing the vaccine and hopefully Joe Biden the president elect will treat the ongoing COVID crisis with advice from scientists and experts. He plans to “manage the hell” out of the pandemic. His detailed strategy, pledged a genuine “wartime” effort to expand vaccine distribution, supplies and testing. He mandated masks on federal lands and in inter-state train, bus and air travel. He plans new vaccination sites across the country and to activate pharmacies in every neighborhood. There is hope now that the White House is taking the virus seriously. Dr. Anthony Fauci is almost giddy being able to state facts with no fear of presidential reprisals. “The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is — let the science speak, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling,” Fauci said.

Rep. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) said, “In terms of potential deaths and the impact on our economy, the crisis we face from coronavirus is on the scale of a major war, and we must act accordingly. We must begin thinking on a scale comparable to the threat, and make sure that we are protecting working people, low-income people, and the most vulnerable communities, not just giant corporations and Wall Street.

 

Vaccine Hunger Games

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The botched United States Government roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine has been referred to as the Vaccine Hunger Games. After being sworn in, President Joe Biden found out that the former administration literally had NO PLAN for vaccine distribution. His administration will have to start from scratch. The former administration said there was a reserve of vaccines on hand to be used for a second inoculation for people who got the first shot and Biden decided to use that reserve to get more shots in arms up front. However once in office he found out that there was no reserve.

Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis has had a disjointed plan in distributing vaccines. The Governor said he is not smart enough to figure out how to best get vaccine shots in arms. He is leaving it up to hospital administrators. At first hospitals were assigned the task of giving the shots to essential workers but the governor’s plan quickly changed to include anyone 65 years and older. That forced health departments to scrap plans to inoculate grocery store clerks and teachers. By setting the age to 65 instead of 75 the Governor created a melee as thousands fought for the limited supply of vaccines. It would be survival of the fittest or most tech savvy.  Senior citizens sat in lawn chairs sometimes overnight to try and get the limited number of shots. People are facing dead phone lines and overloaded websites which crash from the overload. Many are having to travel to other counties in their quest for a shot. The statewide vaccination rate is less than 5 percent of the vaccine that was sent to the state. Since every state has its own plan the overall distribution has been chaos up until now. On top of this each state has no idea how many doses they will be getting which making it impossible to ramp up the distribution process.

On a positive note, it looks like the National case numbers are starting to fall from the height of over 250,000 cases a day earlier in January. I also post risk levels for each state each day and for a solid month every state was blood red meaning every sate was a high risk for COVID-19 infection. However over the last weeks several northern states have been showing signs of improvement. Today Maine turned green for the first time in months meaning it is moving in the right direction. The effects of vaccines on the numbers will not be immediate so the basic precautions, of wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands often, are the best defense of combating this virus until enough people are vaccinated. About 90% of the population needs to get the vaccine for herd immunity to protect everyone from the virus. The other 10% would be protected thanks to the virus’s inability to spread among the other 90% of the population. It will require a major campaign to convince 90% of Americans to get vaccinated.

My sister in South West Florida made it her full time job to get vaccinated and I am thankful that as of yesterday she succeeded. It was a log arduous battle for her but she won the Hunger Games.

 

COVID-19 Wildfires

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California is experiencing a wildfire of a COVID-19 crisis surpassing 3 million COVID-19 cases this week. The state reported 694 new Covid-19 related deaths January 20, 2021, its second highest single day toll to date. As of January 20, 2021, California had a total of 3,019,371 confirmed infections. More than 20,800 people hospitalized across the state for Covid-19. Approximately 4,750 of those patients are in intensive care units.

The Los Angeles Times reported that LA County is particularly hard hit. A dozen mobile refrigerated trailers are parked in the county morgue parking lot to handle all the bodies. Each trailer can store 25 bodies. Overwhelmed funeral homes are forced to turn families away.

As the pandemic rages in California, medics are being told to ration oxygen.  At the start of the new year, oxygen and the medical supplies associated with it were hard to come by in parts of Southern California and some hospital administrators worried they would have to choose which patients get these resources during the next COVID-19 surge.

There is hope that the vaccine roll out might help curb the surge in deaths. However the vaccine roll out has been slow, coming in fits and starts. San Francisco’s public health department will run out of covid-19 vaccine January 21, 2021 because the city’s allocation dropped substantially from a week ago and doses that had to be discarded were not replaced. Two thirds of the state is under a regional stay-at-home orders based on ICU capacity. Sleep Train Arena, the former home of the Sacramento Kings north of Sacramento’s downtown has been turned into a COVID-19 treatment facility to ease the strain on southern California hospitals. The arena should be able to handle 244 patients with the proper staffing and resources. Creating more bed space is easy, but finding staff for these facilities is the dilemma.

California health officials and researchers at the state’s universities and hospitals are trying to learn more about another variant of the coronavirus. Only days after the so-called “UK variant” was identified here in the state, a different, separate variant has now been traced to outbreaks in Santa Clara County. The UK variant spreads more easily being more infectious. Researchers are trying to find out if the the California variant is also more infectious.

Los Angeles International Airport is now offering COVID-19 test results in as little as 30 minutes with the addition of rapid antigen tests at the airport’s on-site laboratory. The nasal-swab antigen tests are available only at the Terminal 6 lab location and cost $80. California officials are pinning their hopes on the newly inaugurated President Joe Biden as they struggle to obtain coronavirus vaccines to curb the surge that has packed hospitals and morgues in the state.

Thousands of COVID-19 Vaccines are Wasted

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At a hospital in a COVID-19 hot spot, a vaccination team inoculated employees. Most employees had already been inoculated. An ER doctor suggested the remaining doses be administered to vulnerable patients or non-hospital employees. The policy however was clear, the shots could only be given to hospital employees. The ER doctor pleaded with upper management and they ultimately relented.

However the vaccination team had gone off shift and the remaining doses had been thrown out. “This kind of thing is pretty rampant,” Ashish K. Jha said. “I have personally heard stories like this from dozens of physician friends in a variety of different states. Hundreds, if not thousands, of doses are getting tossed across the country every day. It’s unbelievable.”

Covid-19 vaccines have a short shelf life once they are thawed out for use. Because of federal and state mandates, hospitals and other health care providers would rather risk a dose going bad than give it to somebody who isn’t scheduled to get a shot. Some states like Massachusetts now have rules requiring hospitals to report the number of vaccine doses that have been discarded, Jha said.

While there doesn’t appear to be any solid numbers yet of how many of the Covid-19 vaccines have been discarded in the United States since the rollout began last month, the World Health Organization warned in 2005 that up to 50 percent of the vaccines released globally each year end up in the dumpster because of supply chain problems, such as not having enough freezer space or transportation issues. Vaccine doses are being thrown out by medical providers who couldn’t find the precisely correct recipients under rigid applicability tiers fashioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the 31.2 million doses distributed as of Friday morning, only 12.3 million had been administered. President elect Joe Biden has promised 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days. Guidance from the CDC may have been a bit too rigid, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a webcast hosted by Schmidt Futures and Social Science Research Council. The CDC recommended giving the very first vaccines to front line health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. While the priorities won’t be abandoned, “when people are ready to get vaccinated, we’re going to move right on to the next level, so that there are not vaccine doses that are sitting in a freezer or refrigerator where they could be getting into people’s arms,” Fauci said. Flexibility and less waste is needed moving forward.

Bulletproof Democracy

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The Capitol building has heightened security after the domestic terrorist attacks of January 6, 2021. All house members now must go through metal detectors before entering the chambers and they are being told they can purchase bulletproof vests, get security training, and those expenses will be re-reimbursed.

Some republican members grew angry and refused to go through the metal detectors, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced $5,000 fines for a first offense and $10,000 fines for a second offense for any lawmaker that didn’t go through security.

Pelosi in a statement said she expressed her “deepest gratitude to the U.S. Capitol Police for the valor that they showed” during the pro-Trump riot and claimed some Republicans “disrespected our heroes by verbally abusing them and refusing to adhere to basic precautions,” by refused to go through the metal detectors.

Members of Congress on January 12, 2021 were also reminded not to carry guns outside of their own offices, including onto the floor of the House, reiterating an existing rule several House Republicans have publicly and privately lobbied against. Freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), who owns a firearm-themed restaurant in Rifle, Colorado. Caused some controversy last week when she vowed in a viral ad to bring her Glock to work. During the January 6 attacks Boebert also tweeted out the movements of Nancy Pelosi which would make it easier for rioters to find the House Speaker.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), said in a Facebook live video that she had a close encounter on the day of the insurrection in which she thought she was going to die. Many members of the house were nearly assassinated. She sensed that something was wrong no only from the crowd violence but from the inside. She did not feel safe going to the extraction point to shelter inn place with other lawmakers, because there were QAnon adherents  and white supremacists sheltering with her. She knew that given an opportunity, they would allow for her to be kidnapped and hurt.

Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), one of the 10 GOP members of Congress who voted to impeach President Donald Trump, said Thursday he believed his life might be in danger and he was planning to buy body armor to protect himself. Before the vote January 13, 2021, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) claimed more Republicans would have joined Democrats in impeaching Trump had they not been “paralyzed with fear” about the threats to their lives.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern, stolen by a Florida man in Capitol riot, has been returned. She used the same lectern on January 13, 2021 after the House impeached President Donald Trump,a second time. From behind the lectern, she said the House demonstrated that “no one is above the law. Not even the president of the United States,” while calling Trump “a clear and present danger to the United States.” Before the impeachment, She personally thanked the troops and their families “for protecting the Capitol and our democracy.”

Rep, Mikie Sherrell (D-NJ), revealed that there were suspicious “tours” of the Capitol the day before the insurrection. There had been no tours allowed due to the pandemic. The sight was so unexpected that they called the Sargent at Arms. The only way the ours could have gotten in would be with a lawmaker or his staff. The next day during the insurection, the terrorists had inside information about the layout of the capitol building.

Lawmakers were warned of multiple potential threats between now and inauguration day, January 20, 2021. One alleged plot involved rioters potentially seeking to surround the Supreme Court and the Capitol with weapons, to prevent Democrats from entering Congress and allowing Republicans to control both chambers, the sources said. Members of Congress and their guests will have to go through  through metal detectors for President-elect Joe Biden‘s inauguration next week, because of concerns from Democrats that GOP colleagues may have helped incite the riot or communicated with organizers.

90,000 in Next 3 Weeks

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More than 90,000 Americans might die in the next three weeks the CDC has reported. More than 38,000 Americans have died of Covid-19 in the first two weeks of the new year. Currently, more than 130,300 people are hospitalized with the virus, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.

New York City is about to open Yankee Stadium as a vaccination site and in California Disney Land is also to become a vaccination site. Disney Land is slated to become the states first super vaccination site, able to vaccinate upwards of 7,000 people each day. California has lagged behind it’s planned vaccination rate, doling out around a third of its doses so far. Fast efficiency distribution of the vaccine has been a problem across the country.

Perhaps Disney World will also become a vaccination site here in Florida but the parks have been packed at the start of the New Year with tourists to profit from people who are stiff crazy from the pandemic.

Besides the 20,000 National Guard now in Washington D.C. there are also National Guard troops helping administer the vaccines in 16 states and territories. CVS Pharmacy has reported that they should be able to administer 25 million vaccinations a month, but that program is not off the ground yet. What is needed is a unified National plan but the POTUS has denied the virus and left it up t each state to figure out ho to distribute vaccines. The result is anarchy. In New Jersey, smoking is considered to be a pre-existing condition and therefor smokers are moved to the front of the line for a vaccine.

I have a sister in South West Florida still struggling to try and get vaccinated. It has become her full time job. She had an appointment set up for January 14, 2021 but got a call back from the health department and was told that they had run out of vaccine. She is now on a list and might be called when more vaccine comes in. Shipments of the virus are not expected for two weeks.

Joe Biden is planning  1.9 Billion dollar COVID Relief plan that includes $1400 stimulus checks and an additional $160 billion for a national vaccine program, including $20 billion for distribution, and an additional $50 billion for expanded testing. The plan also calls on Congress to invest $170 billion in K-12 schools and higher education, including $130 billion for schools to safely reopen. Unfortunately we have six more days to wait before he and Kamila Harris are inaugurated.